HARTLEY WILL BE RUTHLESS AT FALKIRK IF NECESSARY

WHATEVER happens in his new job at Falkirk, Paul Hartley has resolved to be a more ruthless manager than at his previous club Dundee.

The 40-year-old, who was appointed Peter Houston’s successor in midweek, admits he was too loyal to certain individuals towards the end of his three-year tenure at Dens.

Hartley (below) does not name individuals but admits he was guilty of giving certain players too many chances when they were not performing for him.

‘Maybe I was too loyal to some people,’ he mused.

‘That was a big thing at Dundee — perhaps I was too loyal when certain people were not doing their jobs properly.

‘Having the time out has been good for me. It’s allowed me to reflect on what went wrong previously and also to realise how much I miss football when I’m not involved.

‘I’m ready to go again. Everyone makes mistakes in their careers and last season we made mistakes at Dundee.’

Save for the imminent arrival of fitness coach Tam Ritchie, Hartley is holding off on installing his own backroom staff at his new club. Gerry McCabe and Jimmy Boyle were both involved in assisting at Dundee but, with director of football Alex Smith in charge of yesterday’s Irn-Bru Cup victory against Dunfermline and senior players Mark Kerr and Lee Miller also taking responsibility at training, he is in no hurry.

‘I have a few people in mind but I’ll not rush into that,’ added Hartley. ‘It’s a big decision for me. I will probably bring in Tam Ritchie, who I worked with at Hearts and Dundee as my fitness coach.

‘I’ve spoken to Mark and Lee and they will be invaluable in helping me settle in.’

Hartley’s loss of employment in March inevitably prompted a bout of self-analysis and recrimination. The career break allowed him to formulate a few resolutions.

‘I don’t want to be in the Championship,’ he stated. ‘I want to be in the top league going to all the best stadiums and pitting myself against the best teams.

‘That was the message to the players on the first day. Hopefully they all feel the same way.

‘Our aim is to get top four. At the start of the season we were one of the favourites to go up and although the start hasn’t been ideal that remains our aim.’